Man of Your Dreams
by FairyCow
Summary: Suze's life is changed when a handsome stranger enters it.
1. Default Chapter

The sound of my heart beats loudly in my head. I'm running down the hallway of my nightmares, but something is different this time. I'm no longer tormented by the ringing sound of Paul's cruel laughter. I stop running as soon as I realize this. Something must be wrong……..or maybe right, finally. I cautiously turn around and am surprised to see a strange face in front of me. Now when I say strange I don't mean weird or disfigured. Far from it, this face was kind and gentle and well, hot.

"You must be Suze." the guy said, reaching out to shake my hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

I stared dumfounded. I couldn't think of a single word to say to this guy. And wait a sec, did he just say my name?

"Um…H-how do you know my name?" I asked.

"Oh. I'm so sorry. I must have creeped you out. My name is.."

"Suze!"

"Suze"

"SUZE!"

I was abruptly awoken by my stepbrother. I sat up from beneath my covers and groggily rubbed my eyes.

"Hey Dope. What's with the early wake-up call?"

"Suze, mom says that you'll be late for school if you don't get ready in like five seconds." he said.

Stepmom, I corrected mentally.

I now noticed that he was dressed up in the new clothes that mom and I had helped him picked out for his first day at school. New clothes, backpack and all.

"Damn. Today's the first day of school. I completely forgot." I cursed as I got up from bed and walked to my closet.

"Um…Dopey could you tell my mom that I'll be ready in a flash."

"Sure Suze." He smiled at me and walked into the hallway.

I turned around and grabbed anything from my closet. I was dressed in less than 30 seconds, which is so unlike me. I usually spend an hour getting ready for my first day of school, but I did not want to spend my first hour in school getting lectured by Father Dom.

I grabbed my brand-new Kipling backpack and ran out of my bedroom. When I got outside my mom was already waiting for me.

'Suze, sweetie. What's going on? It's not like you to be late for your very first day of school." my mom said, looking at me in that way that parents do when they think you've got a drug problem.

"I'm so sorry mom. I forgot to set my alarm last night. I promise it wont happen again."

"Okay, well we need to get going. As you can see Jake and David didn't wait for you, so I'll be taking you and Brad to school today."

When I finally got to my first class, I couldn't help but notice a crowd of girls standing outside the door. Someone must be handing out free food or something.

"Well, well, well. We meet again, Suze." said a silky voice from right behind me.

That voice belonged to none other than Paul Slater. Jerk extraordinaire.

"We do go to the same school Paul, so it's not as big a coincidence as you'd like to believe." I replied coolly. Unfortunately, I was kind of surprised to see him. We hadn't seen each other all summer. My mom decided that it would be a nice idea to let me spend my summer in New York wirh my best friend Gina.

"How was your summer in New York?" he asked sincerely.

"Um..it was fine. Wait a sec. How did you know that I was in New York."

"Well, let's see. There's the fact that you're from New York and then there's that shirt that your wearing today. By the way, your ensemble today is quite different from what I'm used to seeing you in. However, it does nicely compliment your figure." he replied.

My face turn beet red. I looked down at my clothes and realized that I did look ridiculous today. I was wearing a black 'I Love New York' T-shirt, a pair of black pants that were just a tad too small and a pair of bright pink beach sandals.

"I woke up kind of late today, so I guess I didn't have much time to consider what I should wear today, but frankly Paul what I wear is none of your business." I haughtily answered.

"Jeez. Calm down Suze. I was just playing around with you."

"Look Paul, I don't have the time or patience today for your little jokes so why don't you just back off!" I said, maybe a little too loudly because all of a sudden the crowd of girls turn around and stared at the two of us. It was then that I saw what all the girl's attention was for.

"Susannah!" exclaimed the guy in the middle of the crowd of flirtatious girls.

It was the same guy from my dream. Except, no wait. This is impossible I thought.


	2. Anthony's Warning

I stood frozen for a second before I regained my composure. I wasn't about to make a fool out of myself in front of all these people, and especially not in front of Paul.

"Hi. Um...sorry, but I didn't catch your name the last time we spoke."

"Yes, I know. I'm Anthony." he politely said.

Paul stirred behind me. Hah! Jealous, anyone?

"Suze, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like a word with you."

"Sure, Anthony. No prob." I responded. As Anthony and I walked away from the crowd of disappointed girls, I couldn't help but turn back and flash Paul my most sadistic smile.

When we were far enough from everyone to not be heard I turned to Anthony and asked "Who are you and why were you in my dreams?"

"Well, entering people's dreams is quite simple. I'm pretty sure Paul over there has tried it a few times with you." he said.

"Wait, a sec. How do you know that Paul's a shifter too?" I asked incredulously.

"Look, right now there's not much time to explain. Class should be starting in a few minutes. I'm here to protect you, Suze. There's someone out there who warns to hurt you."

I couldn't help but scoff at his remark. I was no stranger to having people want to hurt me. The mediator business is not a particularly friendly one.

"Anthony that's kind of sweet and all, but I really don't need anyone to protect me. I can handle myself pretty well." and with that I turned away from him and began to walk away, but he grabbed my arm and spun me around so that I was facing him.

"Suze, I didn't mean to offend you, but you really must listen to me. This person who's after you is not like anyone you've ever imagined. He's a shifter like us, but his powers far exceed ours. He's extremely dan…" the bell rang before he could finish his sentence.

"That's the bell. I'd get to class on time, unless your keen on a lecture from Father Dom." I said as I walked away, this time for good.

"Suze! Hey! OMG! You cut your hair. Wow! It looks even better than it did before. I mean not that it didn't look totally amazing before, it's just shorter hair makes you look so much cooler and mature." CeeCee squealed.

(S/N Notice how Paul didn't comment on the new hair-do. Most men are too dumb to notice such things.)

"So has was your summer in New York?" she eagerly asked. I couldn't help but smile. CeeCee my best friend here in Carmel is one of the sweetest girls I have ever met.

"It was great! I got to visit all my old hangouts and spend time with Gina." I replied.

"So have you heard about that transfer student. I think his name is Tony or something like that."

"Actually, it's Anthony. But who really cares anyways." I answered quickly hoping that she would take the hint and drop the subject.

"Wow! So you must know him then. How did you two meet?" she naively asked.

Damn, No such luck. How will I explain this to her? Well CeeCee he invaded my dreams and after nearly giving me a heart attack by appearing at school today he warned me that some evil, powerful guy wants to kill me. Oh yeah, and did I mention that he's also a mediator?

"Actually I just met him today. Father Dom asked me to show him around and help him get adjusted."

Wow! I couldn't help but be impressed by my answer. My lie was so believable, but I felt terrible about having to lie to CeeCee, but I just don't think that she could handle the truth.

Just when CeeCee was about to say something my teacher called me to her desk.

"Susannah please report to Father Dominic's office. He would like to have a word with you." she ordered.

Great! What could I have possibly done to get myself landed in Father Dom's office already? I've only been in town for two days and school just started like twenty minutes ago.


	3. Butting Heads with Kelly and Father Dom

**Chapter 3**

Walking to Father Dom's office I couldn't help but wonder what he wanted to speak to me about. Mind you, this wasn't the first time that I had been summoned to his office on the first day of school. In fact, it was sort of like our own little tradition. But I was still puzzled, because Father Dom usually calls me into his office to give me a scolding, but I couldn't think of a single thing that I'd done wrong. I have been away all summer, and even if I had gone a little wild in New York (which of course, I didn't) there's no way that Father Dom would know about it. It was in this deep state of puzzlement that I ran into Kelly Prescott.

"Owww! Why don't you watch where you're going, freak!" hissed Kelly. The girl was such a complete wimp. I had barely grazed her shoulder. I couldn't help but be amused though when she realized who she had just called a freak.

"Suze, I didn't realize that it was you. But, you really should…." she stalled mid-sentence when she looked down at my clothes.

"What in the world are you wearing. Suze, I understand that you spent the whole summer in New York, but the whole NY grunge look is so five minutes ago, and in case you haven't noticed it's about a hundred degrees outside."

At that moment I just couldn't curb my anger. Who does this girl think she is?

"Kelly, instead of critiquing everyone else's wardrobe why don't you spend a little more time worrying about your own because if I'm not mistaken you wore that same outfit on the first day of school last year."

The look on Kelly's face was priceless, but I wasn't able to enjoy the moment for long because next thing I knew Sister Ernestine was headed our way.

"Susannah Simon, I would expect that after two years of attending school here you would have the sense not to stir up trouble on the first day of school." she reprimanded. "I'd send you straight to Father Dominic's office, but seeing as your expected there already I will have to escort you myself."

"But Father Dom, you should have heard what she said to me." I replied.

"Susannah, I understand that Kelly Prescott and you are not the best of friends, but you must both show each other some respect. I do not expect much effort from Kelly, but I expect more from you." rebutted Father Dom.

Father Dom could be completely clueless sometimes. Saying that Kelly Prescott and I are not the best of friends is like saying that Hitler and the Jews are not the best of friends.

(S/N No offence intended with the Hitler/Jews comment.)

"Will you at least promise me that you will try to be civil with Ms. Prescott?" asked Father Dom. But knowing Father Dom, this was more of a demand than a request.

"Yes. Sure. I promise to try. I can't promise that it'll work but I'll try really, really hard." I answered a bit sarcastically.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that Susannah. Unfortunately, I called you here to discuss something very serious. Have you met our new student Anthony?" he asked.

"Yeah. Me and about every other girl in the school."

"Yes, well then you know that Anthony is also a mediator. He has spoken to me about his concern for your safety. He believes that a powerful shifter intends to hurt you."

"Father Dom, I've had plenty of experience with homicidal maniacs. I think that I'm sufficiently prepared to handle this myself." I stated matter-of-factly.

"Susannah, I cannot deny that you have had plenty of experience protecting yourself against people who would seek to hurt you, but this is a completely different situation. We do not know what this shifter is capable of and I think that it would be in your best interest to remain at home at all times, with the exception of attending school off course."

OK. Wait a sec. Father Dom was taking this a little too far. Placing me under house arrest was extremely drastic. How awful would it be to have to spend my afternoons and weekends stuck at home with my three stepbrothers? If the whole school didn't already think of me as a complete freak, they certainly would if word spread of this.

"You can't be serious, Father Dom. This'll completely ruin my social life, which isn't particularly impressive…." I rambled on until Father Dom interrupted me.

"Suze! Please understand that this is the only way that we can prevent this shifter from being able to hurt you." he said, looking at me with those sad, pleading eyes of his.

"No way! I won't let a threat from some guy that we don't even know scare me into hiding. I know that you want to protect me, but I'll be fine on my own." and with that I sat up from my chair and walked out of Father Dom's office.


	4. Lunchtime Proposal

**Ok. Here's the deal. I have to apologize to those of you, who have been reading my fanfic, because I know that my updates are few and far between, but unfortunately all of my classes are honors classes and my teachers insist on assigning ridiculous amounts of homework. However, I do promise to write a new chapter every week from now on. And if I forget, feel free to email me and harass me until I update. **

**To those who are asking where's Jesse? Don't worry; he'll be entering the story pretty soon.**

**iluvmeg: **and by the way, why is suze calling brad dopey to his face?

**There was a slight mistake in my story. I meant to write Doc, not Dopey. **

**Oh and much thanks to nikki007 and the rest of you who have been reading and reviewing my story.**

**Chapter 4**

Walking out of Father Dom's office, Susannah couldn't help but think that today was one of the worst days of her life. First, there was the whole alarm clock malfunction which led to today's disastrous wardrobe malfunction, then there was that ugly scene at Father Dom's office. I had practically yelled at the guy, which I so do not enjoy doing, because despite the fact that Father Dom can be extremely conservative and overprotective, he's really a very sweet man.

Did I fail to also mention the fact that there's some crazed, evil shifter who wants to destroy me? As if dealing with jerks like Kelly Prescott and Paul Slater, fighting off angry ghosts, doing trig homework, and trying to manage a relationship with my deceased boyfriend wasn't enough.

"So Suze, how was old Father D this morning?" asked Adam jokingly as he slid into the seat on my right.

"Please, don't get me started." I replied uncaringly.

"Geez. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." scoffed Adam.

"You have no idea." I said. Nobody does, I thought sadly to myself.

When CeeCee showed up at lunch, she began to inform me of all that she had done over the summer. She was explaining to me how she'd decided to get a summer job to make some money for a new back-to-school wardrobe (I apologized for not having noticed her amazing new outfit before), when Anthony, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, sat down next to me. Now to say that every single girl in that breezeway was staring right at me, would not be an understatement, because at that very moment every single female in the Juniper Serra Catholic Academy was shooting daggers at me.

"Susannah, do you mind if you and I talk for just a moment?" Anthony asked politely. He combed his fingers through his shiny, dark brown hair. Damn. Why did this guy have to be so cute?

"It's Suze, if you don't mind." I said, tossing back my own mane of brown curls. I have to admit that I was pretty proud of the fact that my hair could still manage to look gorgeous despite the fact that I had scarcely enough time to comb it this morning.

"Pardon me." he apologized sincerely.

Who was it that this guy reminded me of? Then it me; he reminded me of Jesse. Jesse was the only person who called me Susannah, besides Father Dom, but he has to call me Susannah on account of he's a priest and all. Anthony was also extremely polite and well-mannered, like Jesse.

"So did you want to speak to me about something?" I inquired.

"Yes, off course. But could we perhaps discuss this someplace where we can have more privacy?"

"No prob." I replied coolly as I stood up from my seat and lead Anthony towards the nearby bleachers. As we were standing beneath the bleachers, I couldn't help but remember the time I had saved Bryce Martinson from being crushed to death on my very first day of school here.

"So what did you want to speak to me about?" I asked, a bit rudely. "I mean didn't you already say all you had to say to me?"

"No, Susana...I mean Suze. I have just spoken to Father Dominic and he's informed me that you refuse to take his advice and stay at home until he and I have figured out a way to stop this shifter. However, I'm not that surprised. You don't strike me as the kind of girl willing to play the damsel in distress."

"Well, what can I say? A girl doesn't grow up in New York without learning a thing or two about protecting herself."

"I realize that, Suze, but I am afraid that what you have learned in the subways of New York will not protect you against this guy. Look, if you absolutely refuse to do things Father Dominic's way, then would you please try doing things my way."

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang, and as Anthony and I were separated by the throngs of people hurrying to get to their classes, I heard him yell out "Meet me at Father Dom's office after school!"


	5. Extracurricular activities

When I arrived at Father Dom's office, Anthony was already there waiting for me. He smiled coyly and said "So you decided to take my advice, Suze. Smart choice."

In physics class I had debated over whether or not I would actually show up. I mean who did this guy think he was, showing up at my school, practically stalking me all day and telling me that if I wasn't careful some powerful shifter was going to hurt me. And what really ticked me off was that he was a complete stranger. Well, at least almost. I had met him that one time in my dreams, but things like that don't count. Do they?

"All right, so exactly what are we here for?" I asked curiously.

"Well, first there are some things that I need to tell you. I'm a shifter, Suze. Like you. I came to help teach you about your powers. There's so much that you are capable of. You just need to learn how, and that's where I come in."

I was completely floored by Anthony's confession. Up till now, I had believed that Paul and I were the only shifters in the entire world. And if what Anthony told me was true, he could teach me a lot more about how to use my powers. Needless to say, Paul had taught me a lot, but in the back of my mind I couldn't help but feel that there would always be some things he would never teach me. Either because he didn't know them himself, or because he was afraid that eventually I would become even stronger than him. Or maybe because, I could somehow find a way to protect Jesse from being exorcised and sent to the Shadowland.

As these thoughts occupied my mind, Anthony coughed nervously. I realized that I had been staring dumfounded at him for the past minute or so. Jeez, I think that I was really starting to impress this guy.

"God, I'm so sorry. It's just a lot to take in all at once." I replied. Could I be any more lame?

"It's okay, I understand, but like I said there is much to teach you, and I don't know how much time we'll have. So if it's all right with you, I would like to start our first lesson today."

"Sure, off course." I said. "I'm all ears."

By the end of the lesson, I was completely exhausted. Anthony said that we would start off with the basics, like moving things telepathically, but let me tell you that there was nothing basic about it.

"You just need to concentrate on the object that you wish to move. Close your eyes, visualize it, and then visualize it moving." Anthony instructed.

It seemed simple enough, but with all these worries and questions occupying my mind, I couldn't concentrate hard enough.

"I can't do it, Anthony." I exclaimed after my tenth failed attempt. "The whole concentration thing just isn't working for me today."

"Suze, you are perfectly capable of doing this. Look, I think I know what might help you clear your mind. Pick up the paperweight and hold it in your hand."

I obeyed. He continued. "Now, close your eyes and picture the most peaceful place you can imagine. Some place that's quiet and soothing."

I pictured the Carmel beach at sunset, when there were no pesky, rowdy teenagers there skipping classes.

"Now just focus on your breathing. Become aware of each breath you take. Let all other thoughts slip away."

After about five minutes, I became completely unaware of Anthony's presence, until he spoke up once again. "Now, try to move the paperweight again."

I now concentrated solely on the object occupying my hand and as I did I felt it rise out of my hand, float across the room and land softly on Father Dom's desk.

"Did you see that?" I asked Anthony.

"Yes, Suze. I have to say that I am very proud."

"So, what else is there to learn today?" I asked excitedly.

"That is enough for today. Besides, Father Dom will be needing his office back."


End file.
